McFarlane gearing up for another <i>Spawn</i> movie -- but will he direct?

MTV's Splash Page spoke with Todd McFarlane about the possibilities of bringing Spawn back to the big screen. The co-founder of Image Comics and creator of the long-running series said he has five offers on the table, and he is trying to decide between a low-budget film he would direct and a big-budget film he'd produce.

“If I go with the lower-budget movie, they’ll let me direct it. And if I go bigger, than I sit in the producer’s chair; if the budget’s too big, they’re not going to give me the chance at [directing] it. So I’m trying to decide whether I want to go big production, bigger money, bigger marketing — or just do something that’s a little bit smaller, more rock ‘n’ roll, and the way I’ve had it in my brain for the last five years.”

He also said he'd want the film to be less of "big comic-book movie" and more of a crime flick, a la The Departed or L.A. Confidential. Spawn would forgo his traditional outfit in favor of an all-black ensemble. McFarlane also would take a "less is more" approach with the character. “To me, it’s more along the lines of ‘Jaws,’ where you didn’t see [the shark] for half the movie, and then you caught glimpses of him."

The first Spawn movie came out back in 1997 and starred Michael Jai White, John Leguizamo and Martin Sheen. I don't think I've ever actually seen it all the way through, only bits and pieces of it on cable. But the idea of doing it more as a crime movie with Spawn as some sort of shadow-y figure sounds more appealing than watching Leguizamo walk around in the clown outfit. What do you guys think?